“When the time comes, I will leave” – Claudette Singh to APNU/AFC

Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh is unperturbed by the criticisms of her and calls for her resignation, telling those making the calls that she will go when the time comes.
In a recent interview with the media, Singh was asked about criticism from the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Opposition that her decisions when chairing GECOM meetings tend to favour the Government-nominated side.

The Chairperson was adamant that with her background as a former Judge, she always endeavours to make decisions fairly and in keeping with the law. As such, she wasn’t aware of what they meant by such claims.
“I am not aware that I do something like that. Anything I do, I do in accordance with the law. And I try, as a former Judge, I always try to uphold the rule of law. But there will be criticisms,” she said.
“If you sit on the bench and you make an adverse decision, the party that loses would say you’re biased, you take a bribe, whatever. So, there’s always a way they can criticise the decision. That’s up to them.”
During a recent rally, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton went so far as to call for Singh to go. It is not the first time he has made such a call, but according to Singh, “when the time comes, I will leave”.
Other than calling for Singh’s removal as Chairperson, Norton had also said that the Opposition would not contest the next elections unless there is a ‘clean’ list. However, with Claims and Objections slated to start next week, the GECOM Chairperson has said that Local Government Elections will be held by year end.
GECOM has already issued an order and also released a statement on Claims and Objections. This will be done at all GECOM permanent registration offices and will allow persons 18 and over by October 31, 2022, to make a claim to be included in the voters’ list.

“During the Claims and Objections period, any person who will be 18 years and older by the 31st October, 2022, and is a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, or naturalisation, or is a citizen from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, can make a Claim on or before 11th September, 2022 to be included on the OLE, providing that he/she was never previously registered,” GECOM had said.
“Persons desirous of making a Claim to be included in the OLE are required to visit the GECOM Registration Office responsible for their area of residence with the applicable source document(s) such as original Birth Certificate, valid Passport, Adoption Certificate, or Naturalisation Certificate/Certificate of Registration to be registered for inclusion,” GECOM said in its statement.
On the other hand, persons can also make objections against the inclusion of names in the preliminary list, for reasons such as if the person is dead. The Claims section of the exercise will last until September 11, while Objections will close on September 15.
The Commission had also urged all eligible persons to ensure that they use this opportunity to be registered for inclusion in the Revised List of Electors (RLE) and ultimately the Official List of Electors (OLE) in order to be eligible to vote.
“Persons are also encouraged to object to the inclusion of the name of any person whom they believe should not be in the list, based on the legal provisions,” GECOM went on to state in their release.
At the last LGE in November 2018, the then PPP/C Opposition had secured 52 of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs). This followed the holding of the LGE in 2016, during which the PPP/C also claimed the majority of the LAAs. (G3)